Slicing knife



Au .1s,1944. H. cgsmoNs' 2,355,755

SLICING KNIFE.

Filed Feb. 19, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet i INVENTOR.

lf-C'Q/MMONS ATTORNEY:

H. C. SIMMONS SLICING KNI Aug. 15, 1944.

Filed Feb. 19, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 R & m m, m t m. m 6 m VN m W I BYATTORNEY:

Patented Aug. 15, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,355,755 SL ICINGKNIFE Haryl C. Simmons, Davenport, Iowa. I Application February 19,1943, Serial No. 47 61401 8 Claims.

The present invention relates to the culinary art and more particularlyto a islicing knife for use in slicing bread, cake, meat, cheese,butter, and the like. Among the objects of this invention are theprovision -.ofv an improved knife for the purpose indicated; theprovision of an improved knife which can bequickly and economicallymanufactured; the provision of a knife of the character indicated whichcan be adjusted for minimum or maximum thickness of slice or anythickness in between these two; the provision of a knife of thecharacter indicated in which the cutting blade can be adjusted into atprotecting recess in the body of the knife; and such further objects;advantages, and capabilities as will hereafter appear. and as areinherent in the construction disclosed herein. My invention furtherresides in the combination, construction, and arrangement of partsillustratedin the accompanying drawings and, while I have shown thereinwhat is now regarded as th 'pre-.

ferred embodiment of this invention and a modification thereof, I desirethe same to be understood as illustrative only and not to be interpretedin a limiting sense.

In the drawings annexed hereto and forming a part hereof, i

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a slicing knife constructed in accordance withthis invention; I

Figs. 2 and 3 are side elevations of opposite sides of this knife,showing the cutting blade upon one side of the body member and thetension-retaining blade or member upon the opposite side thereof;

' Fig. 4 represents a transverse section substantially along the planeindicated by the line 21- 5, Fig. 3; i

Fig. 5 represents a transverse section approximately along the planeindicated by the line 5-.5, Fig. 3; i

Fig. 6 representsa section similar to Fig. 5'

but showing the blade adjusted into protected position; i 7

Fig. 7 represents a modification of the structure shown in Figs. Ito' 6;in plan view and with a portion of the handle broken away;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 7; and i r Fig9 represents a cross-section substantially along the plane indicated bythe line 9-9, Fig. 7. Reference will now be made in greater detail to"the annexed drawings for a more complete description of this invention.The body member l is provided with a" handle 2' andtoward each of itsends with openings 3 for the reception of blade-supportingmeans i and 5.These supporting means are preferably of uniform diameter throughout andalso preferably cylindrical in form. As shown, they comprise an outsidetubular member through whichis passed a closely fitting rivet 6. rivetmay have a head at one end and a washer at the other end or may havewashers at both ends. Also; a bolt may used and a nut mounted on thethreaded end thereof to hold the parts iri assembled relation.

If th s latter construction is adopted, it would be advisable for thenut to approximately circular in form and provided with spanner notchesso that it i not Easy 176 tafiiflf with tTl bly, since it is undesirablefor the householder to disassemble theknife andatteinpt to sharpen it.Such sharpening sho'uldb' done" upon a ma;- chine provided for thatpurpose. P

The members 1 and 8 may also be supported in other ways, as, for xamp e;by means of solid or tubular members 6 passing through the openings inthe members 1 and and having a press or drive fit therein. Thesebladefsupportin'g members may the'n'bes'punor swaggeid-at their ends toinsure that the blades and tension retaining means will be held inplacethereon. Upon one side of the" body member isa sharp? ened cuttingblade! while upon the opposite side thereof is a tension-retainingmember 8. These r'n'mbers' l and 8 are perforated at their two ends andsecured to the en s of the siulig ports 4 and 5. When this slicer is"assembled,- the parts "I and" 8 are made taut that there will be noundesirable bending thereof when using the knife.

The body member I may be made of wood", plastic, or other suitablematerial, and is pros vided on opposite sides" with recessesextendingbet'ween the supports 41 and'll forthe reception of theharpened blade ,1; This blade niay b asfse'hibled onither side of thebody mem lfiof that the slicer will be adapted for use by either a rightor a left handed person. When on has finished using the knife and isready to put: it away, the supports 4 and 5 ma be shoved" through thebody member soasto carrythe time 1 into'a protected position upon oneside of the body m'ember. In this 'position', the rib 9 along the bottomof the body member acts to protect the sharp edge-"of the blade fro'mbeing engaged bythe handsiof the'user or by hard objebt s hich mightdull the blade. is a very desirable safety, feature and does"not'int'e'rfere the least withlthe utility of the'slice'r'. v p

The tension-retaining member 8 maybe' cons tructed either as a blankblade; as shown, or may consist of: a wire s't'retchd betw eh' tliefivdup orts n 5.. 1 have used both'iornis'and' consider the blank blade asthe preferable one. If, assembling m nest, rivetsare used forthe'supports 4 and theerids or" these afieri'v eted to hold the deviceassented; then" when disassembling the slicer for the sharpening of theblade, the ends of the rivets will be ground ofl so that they can bedriven out, thus freeing the blade so that it may be removed forsharpening. When using the device for slicing, the edge of the ribnearest the blade acts as a guide to keep the slice of uniformthickness.

When slicinglbutter, cheese, or the like, it is preferable to use theblank blade 8, rather than the sharpened blade and just push it throughthe material being out. While I prefer to construct these slicers forthe cutting of any thickness of slice up to approximatelynine-sixteenths of an inch it will be understood that the maximumthickness may be made more or less than that amount by a properselection of the materials for the supports 4 and 5.

It will of course be understood that, while I prefer to have the blade Iscalloped, as shown, it

is also-possible to use a sharpened blade which is Vwithout'scallops'and thatl regard such as coming within the scope ofthis invention.

A modification of the structure just described is shown in Figs. '7 to9, in which is disclosed means for positively and uniformly adjustingthe supports 4 and 5 through the body member I. This is shown ascomprising a rod ID of substantially uniform diameter throughout,provided with gear teeth at H and I2, cooperating with correspondinggear teeth 13 on the supports 4a and 5a. As shown, the rod II) isprovided at one end with a milled operating head l4 secured at theforward end of the rod in any suitable way. Adjacent the opposite end ofthe rod is a groove l5 which receives a pin [6 passed through an openingin the body'member and having a press fit therein. This pin preventsendwise movement of the rod. A cotter-pin straddling the rod wouldaccomplish the same purpose, but the pin shown is simpler, just asefficient, less expensive to manufacture, and easier and less costly intime to assemble. The rod l should fit closely within the opening in thebody member so that it will not have lateral play therein when beingturned to'actuate the supports 4a and a.

In this construction, as in the structure of Figs. 1 to 6, the supports4a and 5a may be either simple and solid or compound, comprising tubular.means with rivets or bolts passed therethrough, or even tubular meanswithout anything passed therethrough, the ends extending through theopenings in the end portions of the cutting members 1 and8 and beingexpanded therein to hold the blades properly positioned on their sup--portsr e Various departures from my disclosure may be made withoutdeparting from the'spirit of this invention or. the scope of theappended claims. For illustration, we may assume the handle'Z madeindependent of the body I and secured to the rod 10. In this case, thehead l4 would be omitted and the handle would be preferably, althoughnot necessarily, symmetrical in form. Also, it would: preferably extendaxially with relation to the rod Ii]. The pin "5 could be located at anysuitable place along the length of the rod. Having 'now described myinvention, I claim: 1. In a slicing knife of the type'indicated, a rigidbody having transverse openings toward its ends, rigid supportingmembers fitting closely in but manually slidable through said openings,a cutting blade mounted upon corresponding ends of said supportingmembers atone side of said body, and a tensioning member at the oppositeside: of said body, secured totheremaining ends of said supportingmembers and assisting in holding said blade taut.

2. In a slicing knife, an elongated rigid body member having transverseopenings toward its two ends and longitudinal recesses extending fromeach opening toward the other, transverse supporting members extendingthrough said openings and having a slicing blade mounted upon their endsupon one side of the body member, and a tension-retaining member for theblade connecting the remaining two ends of said supporting members uponthe other side of the body member. 7

3. A slicing knife comprising an elongated rigid body member providedtoward its two ends with substantially parallel transverse openings forthe reception of blade supports, substantially cylindrical supportsmounted in said openings and manually slidable therein to produceadjustment of the spacing of a blade from the body member,

a cutting blade and a tension-retaining member.

mounted upon the end portions of said supports upon opposite sides ofsaid body member.

4. A structure as defined by claim 3 in which the blade supportscomprise tubular means and a blade-holding member extending through eachthereof and holding means at each end of the blade-holding memberwhereby the blade and the tension-retaining member may be held againstthe ends of the tubular means.

5. A slicing knife comprising an elongated rigid body, supports passedthrough the end portions thereof, a cutting blade along one side of saidbody and secured to the ends of said supports upon that side of saidbody, and a blade tensionretaining member upon the opposite side of saidbody, mounted upon the second ends of said supports.

6. A slicing knife comprising an elongated rigid body, supports passedthrough the end portions thereof, a cutting blade along one side of saidbody and secured to the ends of said supports upon that side of saidbody, and a blade tensionretaining member upon the opposite side of saidbody, mounted upon the second ends of said supports, said body having alateral depression into which said blade may be pressed by forcing thesupports through the openings in the body in which they are mounted,whereby to protect the edge of the blade against undesired contact withother objects.

7. A structure as defined by claim 5 in which the supports are providedwith rack teeth and the body has a rigid operating member extendinglengthwise thereof and provided with gear teeth which engage the rackteeth for longitudinal operation of the supports whereby to adjust thespacing of the cutting blade from the body.

8. A bread slicing knife comprising a rigid support having oppositesurfaces and a handle, a pair of spaced blade supporting membersslidably mounted in said support and adapted to extend through saidsupport, blades mounted on the members one on each side of the support,whereby adjustment of one blade closer to the support will move theother blade farther from said support, each opposite surface of thesupport being adapted to act as a guide when engaged with the surface ofa loaf of bread to guide the blade.

HARYL C. SIMMONS.

